State Swimming: Loveland’s Erin Lang repeats as 500-freestyle champion

  • Cris Tiller / Loveland Reporter-Herald

    Loveland's Erin Lang, left, smiles with her teammates after winning a second straight state championship in the 500-yard freestyle Saturday at the state swimming meet at the VMAC in Thornton. The junior, who broke a school record in taking third in 200 free, won the 500 with a time of 5:02.25.

  • Cris Tiller / Loveland Reporter-Herald

    Thompson Valley senior Sophie Kubik cheers after winning her consolation final of the 100-yard butterfly by .01 Saturday at the state swimming meet at the VMAC in Thornton.

  • Cris Tiller / Loveland Reporter-Herald

    Loveland and Thompson Valley swimmers celebrate together at the state swimming meet Saturday at the VMAC in Thornton. The two teams share friendships through the Loveland Swim Club.



THORNTON — This can’t be happening.

Not now. Please not this moment. Of all the times to feel under the weather, this was unquestionably the worst.

Erin Lang couldn’t believe it. A day out from the biggest event of the entire year, the moment she worked all season for, Loveland’s junior could feel it in her throat. She was developing a cold.

“I was just like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!'” she said, her head rolling back in agony at the very thought of it. “I was drinking lots of water, taking lots of vitamins. I was a little concerned, but I know how to take care of myself. It was also just not thinking about my cold, because today was just about swimming and representing my team.”

Luckily, Lang’s body doesn’t follow the same rules as the rest of us. An elite athlete in peak physical condition, a minor head cold only managed to slow her up.

Well, a bit. Sort of. Kinda.

On the final day of the season at the state swimming championships at the Veteran’s Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton on Saturday, Lang defended her 4A state title in the 500-yard freestyle for back-to-back-championships, while notching another school record in a separate event.

Maybe feeling 100 percent is overrated? Or more likely, Lang is just one of the finest swimmers to come through the Loveland program, which is no small feat.

“Honestly, it’s such an honor because I know those girls that came before me and they’re super good,” she said. “It’s such an honor to say that I’m at a level with them. It’s really great.”

The only thing to slow Lang down and prevent her from claiming another title in the 500 free would have to be a broken limb. Because even at less than full steam, she cruised into the wall nearly five full seconds ahead of the next finisher in 5:02.25.

Her time was not as stellar as last year’s school record in same event and meet, but who cares. Winning is winning.

“I would call it more anxiety. I’m just ready to swim and the build up and the pressure just makes me really anxious,” Lang said. “I get a little bit nervous, but then I get super excited to go out and perform my best.”

She began the day off strong, taking third place in the 200 freestyle, eclipsing the school’s all-time mark in the event with a 1:52.40. Loveland would finish in a tie for sixth place as a team with 132 points thanks to third in the 200 medley relay and a top finish in the 400 free relay, winning the consolation final.

However, nobody boosted the Indians’ score any more than junior Josie Brohard, who was seeded as the 15th-fastest time coming in only to make the ‘A’ final of the 100 backstroke Saturday with the fifth-best mark. Yet Brohard still had one more trick up her sleeve.

In an event she swims more than any other, Brohard let her body and instinct take over, going into “autopilot” to move up another spot and take fourth in 59.56.

“I think it was a surprise for everyone. I definitely didn’t see it coming,” she said, all smiles afterward. “You don’t believe it at first. You have to check the board. I saw a ‘4’, but I had to double check what lane I’m in.

“Once it sinks in, you’re just like ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I did that.’ I was so proud have done it.”

Thompson Valley took 16th as a team with 49 points, led by senior Sophie Kubik’s narrow consolation final victory in the butterfly with a time of 59.45, just out-touching second place by .01.

Teammates Emma McKalko and Adley Morison went 12th (5:24.90) and 14th (5:26.35) in the 500 freestyle as Emma Jo Briles placed ninth in the diving competition with a score of 392.50.

The Eagles sent a smaller contingent to finals Saturday, although it was hard to tell where they ended and the Indians began.

Swimmers at this level are rarely members of one team all year and state is a nice reunion for all Loveland Swim Club members, who made up a bulk of the area’s finalists.

“We just had so much momentum going for Loveland Swim Club. It just kept building and building and building,” Kubik said. “This was honestly just one of the best state meets of my entire career, because it was a really awesome environment.”

Whether you’re sick or not.

Cris Tiller: or

State Swimming Championships



200 medley relay — 1. Rampart, 1:42.86xa; 2. Mullen, 1:48.35; 3. Loveland (Erin Lang, Ashley Peet, Josie Brohard, Kate Wullink), 1:49.62; 4. Cheyenne Mountain, 1:50.05; 5. Silver Creek, 1:50.27; 6. Air Academy, 1:50.52; 7. Evergreen, 1:50.67; 8. Heritage, 1:50.93.

200 freestyle — 1. Kylie Andrews, Heritage, 1:49.65c; 2. Lainee Jones, Pueblo South, 1:50.17c; 3. Lang, Loveland, 1:52.40; 4. Meghan Magill, Silver Creek, 1:55.79; 5. Frances Hayward, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:56.03; 6. Abigail Shaw, Niwot, 1:57.61; 7. Clare Sanderson, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:57.88; 8. Grace Mortimer, Highlands Ranch, 2:00.54.

200 IM — 1. Cat Wright, Cheyenne Mountain, 2:02.53c; 2. Ella Kirschke, Valor Christian, 2:03.20c; 3. Erin Eccleston, Windsor, 2:06.22; 4. Catriona Clarke, Rampart, 2:07.23; 5. Aleksandra Olesiak, Air Academy, 2:08.54; 6. Elise Johnson, Greeley West, 2:08.57; 7. Sophia Bricker, Cheyenne Mountain, 2:08.85; 8. Remi Gucker, Evergreen, 2:10.47; 10. Brohard, Loveland, 2:09.27; 13. Sophie Kubik, Thompson Valley, 2:12.56.

50 freestyle — 1. Anna Shaw, Heritage, 23.54c; 2. Aimee Burton, Highlands Ranch, 24.02; 3. Sofia Zinis, Mullen, 24.03; 4. Lindsey Immel, Rampart, 24.05; 5. Allana Clarke, Rampart, 24.11; 6. Lindsay Stenstrom, 24.17; 7. Claire Chahbandour, Mullen, 24.26; 8. Paris Binard, Air Academy, 24.65.

Diving — 1. Morgan McCarty, Fort Collins, 464.40; 2. Whitney McCoy, Pine Creek, 464.25; 3. Audrey Teets, Pine Creek, 449.85; 4. Erin Esty, Pine Creek, 446.05; 5. Julianna Zinis, Mullen, 426.50; 6. Maggie Buckley, Rampart, 411.80; 7. Sydney Brown, Ponderosa, 410.75; 8. Izzi Mroz, Valor Christian, 403.10; 9. Emma Jo Briles, Thompson Valley, 392.50.

100 butterfly — 1. Audrey Reimer, Fort Collins, 54.21ca; 2. Wright, Cheynne Mountain, 55.01c; 3. Allana Clarke, Rampart, 56.19; 4. Payten Irwin, Niwot, 56.72; 5. Burton, Highlands Ranch, 56.91; 6. Mia Shaeffer, Coronado, 57.55; 7. Hermeston, Silver Creek, 58.38; 8. Hoehn, Valor Christian, 1:00.06; 9. Kubik, Thompson Valley, 59.45.

100 freestyle — 1. Andrews, Heritage, 50.66; 2. Ella Kirschke, Valor Christian, 50.84; 3. Jones, Pueblo South, 51.37; 4. Anna Shaw, Heritage, 51.49; 5. Lindsey Immel, Rampart, 52.00; 6. Stenstrom, Valor Christian, 52.29; 7. Chistina Crane, Evergreen, 52.82; 8. Edenna Chen, Rampart, 53.16..

500 freestyle — 1. Lang, Loveland, 5:02.25; 2. Josie Carpenter, Greeley West, 5:07.12; 3. Sanderson, Cheyenne Mountain, 5:07.99; 4. Hayward, Cheyenne Mountain, 5:14.84; 5. Remi Gucker, Evergreen, 5:16.38; 6. Grace Mortimer, Highlands Ranch, 5:16.45; 7. Lauren Vilims, Evergreen, 5:19.38; 8. Danielle Roney, Highlands Ranch, 5:25.00; 12. Emma McKalko, Thompson Valley, 5:24.90; 14. Adley Morison, Thompson Valley, 5:26.34

200 free relay — 1. Valor Christian, 1:35.90xc; 2. Heritage, 1:36.89; 3. Niwot, 1:38.28; 4. Cheyenne Mountain, 1:38.85; 5. Mullen, 1:38.48; 6. Silver Creek, 1:38.85; 7. George Washington, 1:39.62; 8. Highlands Ranch, 1:40.33; 10. Loveland (Mia Gauvin, Shannon Tyler, Ella Doerr, Wullink), 1:41.45; 11. Thompson Valley (Morison, Jordan Keck, Arden McCauley, Emily Fulp), 1:41.95.

100 backstroke — 1. Reimer, Fort Collins, 54.22xa; 2. Shaw, Niwot, 57.24; 3. Clarke, Rampart, 57.84; 4. Brohard, Loveland, 59.56; 5. Eccleston, Windsor, 59.73; 6. Lauren VanFleet, Ponderosa, 59.88; 7. Kennedy Terry, 59.95; 8. Lizzie Hunt, Heritage, 1:00.05.

100 breaststroke — 1. Edenna Chen, Rampart, 1:02.33a; 2. Olesiak, Air Academy, 1:02.91a; 3. Bricker, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:03.32a; 4. Brandi Vu, Silver Creek, 1:04.14c; 5. Christina Crane, Evergreen, 1:05.38; 7. Johanna Miller, Rampart, 1:05.40; 8. Claire Chahbandour, Mullen, 1:06.48; 11. Peet, Loveland, 1:07.96; 13. Jordan Reichhardt, Loveland, 1:10.04.

400 free relay — 1. Valor Christian, 3:28.05a; 2. Rampart, 3:28.60c; 3. Heritage, 3:33.59; 4. Cheyenne Mountain, 3:35.07; 5. Niwot, 3:35.68; 6. Evergreen, 3:37.50; 7. Windsor, 3:38.88; 8. Highlands Ranch, 3:42.15; 9. Loveland (Gauvin, Doerr, Brohard, Lang), 3:38.63; 12. Thompson Valley (Morison, Kubik, Jamie Dellwardt, Fulp), 3:45.62.

x — Classification record

a — automatic All-American

c — All-American consideration